24th August 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
Plasma glucose levels is such a simple test that we take for granted its reliability. The glucose level is absolutely critical in many of our clinical management. It governs whether we diagnose someone with diabetes or not and that have many regulatory implications. We have discussed the diagnosis and management of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and how it affects maternal and offspring outcomes and future risks to both.…
30th October 2023, Dr Chee L Khoo
When we think about precision medicine, we usually think about some fancy, expensive genetic tests that can help us determine ahead of time who is at risk of some serious diseases. This may allow us to target these patients early and reduce morbidity and mortality. There is connotation that only the rich in rich countries can afford these tests and once again, patients in low and middle income countries (LMIC) will miss out on these state of the art expensive tests.…
28th October 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) is defined as laboratory testing conducted close to the site of patient care, typically by clinical personnel whose primary training is not in the clinical laboratory sciences, or by patients (self-testing). In theory, POCT which produce results within minutes can assist in management of a number of chronic diseases. It could be useful in patients whose adherence to appointments is often an issue or in patients who are time poor and would prefer to attend the practice as infrequently as possible.…
13th August 2022, NIA Diagnostic Imaging
In a 2020 study, 1 in 20 Australians have diabetes mellitus (excludes gestational diabetes), and the primary complications associated with this disease are foot ulcerations and claudication (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2022). Diabetic foot ulcerations can develop due to a number of factors including poor glycaemic control, poor foot care, dry skin, calluses, and foot deformities (Oliver & Mutluoglu, 2022).…
13th May 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
Another month, another commonly used class of drugs are implicated in either aggravating glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) or actually, increase the risk of developing T2D. This month, we a report suggesting the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), as a class of agent, is associated with increased risk of developing T2D.…
8th April 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
CVD is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). There are many hundreds of cardiovascular risk prediction tools around. Well, whenever you have many versions of a particular tool, it usually tells us that none of them are particularly good in what they are meant to do – that is to predict the risk of a cardiovascular event.…
7th March 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
We are all familiar with various fixed dose combination of glucose lowering agents. We have DDP4 inhibitors + metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors + Metformin and SGLT2 inhibitors + DPP4 inhibitors. We also have combination insulins for some time – rapid acting insulin + long acting insulin (so-called pre-mix or co-formulations). Pharmacologically, they make sense as these combined agents either work via different mechanisms or have different pharmacokinetics.…
27th January 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
At GPVoice, we have covered the management of heart failure fairly comprehensively over the last couple of years. In particular, we explored the cardiovascular benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) especially in patients with heart failure. Initial studies looked at patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) although subsequent studies found the benefits was also seen in patients with preserve ejection fraction (HFpEF) although only empagliflozin has reported.…
3rd January 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
Diabetes is associated with a whole myriad of complications. Traditionally, complications were categorised into macrovascular and microvascular complications. We have added heart failure and arrhythmias to that list. We have made much headway and have seen declines in non-fatal incidence of these traditional diabetes complications, in parallel with declines in all-cause mortality in people diagnosed with diabetes.…
21st August 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
Nothing scares patients with diabetes more than blindness. Although we have many treatment options available for proliferative diabetic retinopathy and macular oedema, diabetes remains the leading cause of severe visual impairment in working-aged adults. Diabetic retinopathy affects one in three people with diabetes. Risk factor control and screening are the cornerstones for retinopathy prevention.…
9th May 2021, Dr Chee L Kho
When we think of diabetes-related complications, we usually think about microvascular and macrovascular complications. We don’t usually think about dementia. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) represents an increasing health burden world-wide and its prevalence in particularly higher in elderly population. While epidemiological evidence suggests an increased risk of vascular and Alzheimer’s dementia associated with T2D, the mechanisms underlying the association, however, remain unclear.…
!2th March 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
A substantial number of myocardial infarctions (MIs) are asymptomatic (silent MI (SMI)) or associated with minor and atypical symptoms and are found accidentally during routine electrocardiogram (ECG) examinations that reveal the existence of abnormal Q waves. The risk factors for occurrence of SMI are increasing age, hypertension, existing coronary artery disease and diabetes.…